If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you cross two solo artists, one whimsically English, the other with a penchant for the rich musical tradition of NYC, then the answer is Bedsit Poets. Backed by a superb band, Edward Rogers and Amanda Thorpe join forces for their third album, All Roads Lead Me Back, a collection of twelve tracks that incorporates everything from folk to garage and serves them up a delectable smorgasbord.

As a warm welcome to the wonderful world of the Bedsit Poets there’s perhaps no better introduction than the aptly-titled ‘Come See About Me’. It saunters from speaker to speaker with an insanely catchy beat and an infectious groove, yet it is full and multidimensional, and that’s indicative of All Roads Lead Me Back. It is the kind of album that can be enjoyed on several levels; on the surface there’s a strong focus on song structure and melodic sensibilities, yet dig a little deeper and you’ll find a host of strange time signatures and unorthodox rhythms. This makes All Roads Lead Me Back the type of long player that’ll reward repeat plays as subtle nuance buried deep in the mix bubble to the surface on successive spins, and that makes ‘Come See About Me’ a hard invitation to refuse.

Anyone with experience of olde London Town’s concentric streets will understand its magnetic pull and that’s precisely what ‘London Town’ serves up with vocals that wisp like ghosts through labyrinthine streets. In many ways this album is a love letter to England (and its capital), and it does operate with a kind of English eccentricity. Yet, they are certainly no little Englanders and the following ‘Pelican Club’ swings with a New York, Johnny Thunders, proto-punk vibe and concludes with Amanda chewing off your right ear and Edward your left. Yet, All Roads Lead Me Back is a record that’s stitched together by its very eclecticism and it is never knowing in what direction it will veer that makes it such an engaging listen.

The twin vocals of Amanda and Edward work together very well, and throughout the album they each acts as a foil to highlight and enhance the other. However, they are just as potent when operating individually and on the revolutionary ‘The Dark Night’ Amanda is leading the charge from the barricades, whilst on ‘Heartbreak Baby’ Edward adopts the persona of an old bluesman; world-weary, but wise. However, just when you think you have the band pegged and pigeonholed, they shape shift and transmogrify with a neat turn of phrase and a groovy tune. In fact, it is only closing track ‘December My Dear’ that’s remotely predictable, yet in the album’s arc it fits in perfectly.

A timeless album, for all times.

• All Roads Lead Me Back is released by Think Like A Key Music on 2nd February 2024.

Track List:

1. Come See About Me
2. London Town
3. Pelican Club
4. Scarecrow
5. Shadows Into Ashes
6. Everything But
7. The Dark Night
8. My Precious Dear
9. Heartbreak Baby
10. Never Had The Chance
11. The Ragpicker
12. December My Dear